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Wednesday, July 1, 2009

Come to our Wedding!

December 15, 2001Was the day I married the man I couldn't have even dreamed of!

Oh, I had tried to find me a Mr. Right. I was so wrong in my choices.

Then one day this handsome, wholesome man walked into my life when I was ready to make a fast exit. I wanted to change my name, therefore my identity, so I would no longer be tied to a family who didn't even know what the definition of family was.

God saw a better way to change my name AND my family.

This is A day, that was so jumbled with feelings. But mostly, it was the day God answered my prayers and made Rob's dreams come true.

Hair done and getting a make-up touch up, this is Jody, she was my last minute maid of honor. The "friend" I had asked, was the gal I was with the day I met Rob. She turned into a psycho diva with two weeks to go before the wedding. I can't even tell you the stress and havoc and last minute changes it caused. I took a deep breath and cut her from my life. Jody was kind enough to step in and go right to work.Here I am getting into my gown. I loved this dress! It was simple, elegant, flattering and I paid a total of $400 that includes alterations. My veil and headpiece however were not so cheap. I had them both custom made for me. I won't tell how much, but it was WORTH it. My shoes: You'll die: were brown Borns. I could never wear heals and I certainly wasn't going to suffer for beauty sake, and besides my dress covered my feet!!! They were so comfortable, and ugly. It was AWESOME. (My alterations lady had a fit at the shoes, she nearly wouldn't sew the dress unless I brought her something more "proper")

Since we were having our pictures BEFORE the wedding it had been arrange for Rob to have a private (His best man, and the photographer) viewing of me. One of the girls gave him their shawl to cover his eyes, I walked up and stood in front of him, his brother, Steven untied the shawl.

There you have the moment in this series of pictures and right after this, he yanked my veil out! in THIS picture.

This is one of my favorites, I love the looks on our faces. I was DETERMINED not to let anything ruin this day. The world could go into thermo melt down and I would still have my smile on my face. I was MARRYING my BEST friend, my SWEET lover, my FORever. No, I wasn't mad over this, I'm laughing, as if to say "Yeah, bring IT. Nothing is gonna get me down today."

An 11x13 of this picture hangs in our living room.

Here is another one of my favorites. As you can see we shot mostly in Black and White, but also got a few in color. The red (gook) on the side is from taking it out of the scrapbook, which I mangled in the process of this post. No worries, I'm an expert at repairing such disasters.

The boys. Looking all handsome! (front to back) Rob, Steven, Chris,(the brothers) Nick, Ted, Paul and Ken. (the roommates or as I call them the ex-wives!) Except for Paul, he never lived with Rob, it's the other three. Nick would be who our son is named after.

My family: dad ~Howie, niece~Teionna, mother~Judy, sister~Sherri (notice I gave her straps on her dress!!! I didn't need a topless dancer at my wedding, and yes, she was drinking again. ;)

Can you BELIEVE it was December in Minnesota?!?!?!I'm telling you this day was BLESSED by God. 45 and SUNNY.

Us girls waiting for show time. This was so nerve-racking for me.

Hurry up people and get in your seats!!!!

Dumdumdadum...

My dad, Howie, had the honor of walking me down the aisle. I say honor because he never deserved it. He was an absentee father, who cared more about appearances and himself then for anything else. He broke my heart countless times. The reason I chose to give him this moment was SELFISH on my part. You see most daughters grant their fathers this, it really isn't that special when you think that it is normally the way a bride walks done the aisle. Just like she normally wears a shade of white and normally carries flowers and normally has cake, you get the picture. It is done out of tradition, and meaning for THE BRIDE. But for me I took this MOMENT to be the ONE and ONLY time he had to be there for ME. It was MY moment. He had to hold my arm, to smile to look as though I was his perfect, beautiful, amazing daughter and he gave me away to my husband. Gave me away to my new life. He didn't abandon me, he GAVE ME AWAY. So you see, it wasn't HIS honor, it was MINE.

Taking Rob's hand and walking toward the alter was surreal. I couldn't tell there was anyone else in the room.

We said our vows:

I____take you,____to be my husband/wife.

To be no other then yourself.

Loving what I know of you, trusting what I do not yet know.

I promise to cherish and respect you,

to care and protect you

To comfort and encourage you

To stay with you always.

____,I choose you,

to be my partner in love and in life.

We had issues lighting the candle. I couldn't see the top for one thing, and the darn thing wouldn't LIGHT. (apparently, you are suppose to light it before the ceremony, blow it out quick just so it will light that the time you go to light it.)

We stood there for the WHOLE song, it wasn't lighting. We turned to go back and suddenly out of nowhere the stupid candle decided to light. The candles had already been put back into there holders. The pastor made a joke and the whole church laughed. I loved that sound.

You may kiss your Bride!!

I let out a big WOO HOOO!!!!Seriously, again they laughed.

I was spent with emotion. As we walked out of the church all I could think was

THANK GOD IT'S OVER!

Sweet relief. Rob and I get a quiet moment before we have to greet everyone. This moment was full of release, joy, surrender and the end to a very long journey.

This is Rob's grandma, Ruth. She was the matriarch of the Cox family. Ruth was diagnosed with liver cancer two months before our wedding. She had begun her treatment and no one was sure whether she'd be able to come. Not only did she come, LOOK AT HER, she looked gorgeous. Ruth passed away in January 2003. She got to meet our Buttered Toast just before she went Home.

The wheels on the bus...

Let's get this party started!!! We took a bus from the church to Rice park. (A park in St. Paul that is light with tons of twinkle lights.) The boys couldn't WAIT to have their beer, they kept sneaking out to the cars to have a drink, but the pastor caught them! Can somebody PLEASE tell me how Howie ended up on this bus? It was suppose to be for wedding party ONLY. See, told ya, he finds away to be in the middle of whatever is going on. Nope, this didn't make me mad either, I would have felt like a dork if I were him, being the only "oldster" there, but hey that's me.

The girls. They were so wimpy! They refused to take off their coats for a 10 second picture. Soon after they returned to the bus. Bunch of babies. Course, I was heated by the burning flame of LOVE, still bunch of babies.

The Boys. Nice to see the exwives so happy for Rob!

I love how Rob's arms are holding me tightly, as if he knew THIS was going to happen!

And THIS!

There! Now you can see the ugly shoes! Thank goodness those boys had the sense to bunch the dress! Or the shoes wouldn't been the only thing y'all saw!

Time for toasts.

Up first Jody. She did her research, found one off a wedding website.

"May your life together be like this roll of toilet paper...Soft, strong and ever so long."Why thank you! That's charming, or should I say Charmin! HA.

We thanked our guests and were ready to party down, but there was one last thing...

Elvis is IN the building!

The boys surprised Rob with Elvis wigs! Hilarious!

Our first song was to Elvis' The Wonder of You. I let Rob pick it. It ended up being perfect.

Okay BUST IT!

Those wigs were passed around all night. I don't know what ever happened to them.

Yes, we did the cake thing, and ate and more toasts but come on everyone is waiting for the dancing!

okay, i've just gotta ask..are you doing *the sprinkler* in that last photo. my goodness sara, you were and are a beautiful bride. and looking at all these photos surely showed how happy you were and how much you enjoyed every moment! loved it!

I loved when you said it was Your honor, that he was giving you away, and that God had given you a new name, a new family a new dream. SO happy for you. And thrilled that his grandmother got to meet Butter before she met the Lord! You're gorgeous Sara, Stunning.

Girl! I cannot get over how much I love this post of yours. What a STUNNING bride you were - truly! And Rob looks just thrilled to death - I love seeing that look on newlyweds faces. That picture of the two of you, where he saw you for the first time - I can see why that is your fave. That one just says it all.

You spent a lot of time on this post - so awesome to see these - I almost feel like I was there now!